Liability
by Airrei
Summary: Shizaya, ft. CeltyxShinra. Shizuo had broken many things in the past, but never expected Izaya to break. Izaya on the other hand, wants no one's sympathy, but things don't always go his way when Shizuo wants to make up for it.
1. Chapter 1

For Yumi.

-Note- Implied violence, lost limb, and bunch of speculations that might need correcting. Feel free to point out anything, and I hope that you will enjoy.

ShizuoxIzaya, ft. CeltyxShinra

* * *

**Liability**

* * *

_I messed up._

Izaya rested his cheek on his hand over the counter, giving a playful smirk to Shinra who was happily chattering away. The informer hardly laughed at the jokes, but when he made an impertinent remark himself, Celty gave the brunette a friendly shove. Then the arm of the black jacket on Izaya's right side flapped. It was like a curtain during a small breeze, and Shizuo's stomach churned.

_I really messed up._

Shinra was the first to notice his blonde friend looking ill. His perpetual smile faltered, but instead of addressing anything directly, he called for Izaya with the slightest flicker of his eyes. Crimson orbs replied back, narrowing in an exasperated manner, but the informer complied. He grasped the edge of his empty sleeve and shoved the hem into the jacket's side pocket. Celty nervously leaned against the doctor's shoulder, letting her hand grasp her boyfriend's under the table. Shinra turned his hand around to return the gesture. They both felt guilty for initiating this action, but secretly glad that they were able to on either side of each other.

"I don't mind." Izaya chuckled. Shinra's smile turned into an annoyed twitch. Celty probably looked away, though no one really knew which way she was looking with her swarming dark aura bellowing all over the place. The informer couldn't stand it when something as natural as holding hands became an act of guilt in front of him. It was also instinctive for people to feel sympathetic to the handicapped, but he didn't want any of this from his so called friends. But such was life, and he knew it too.

He turned away from the two only to face saddened looking brown eyes, staring at where the right arm was supposed to be. Izaya was sickened.

"What…you too, Shizu-chan? I don't need any sym-"

Shizuo reached for the brunette's remaining hand and gingerly seized it with both of his own. The three others at the table flinched. Shinra looked at Celty, and she turned her body to watch him point over his shoulder to the door with his thumb. The doctor smiled wearily, nodding several times before they both got up and left the room.

When the door closed quietly after the couple, the blonde started to look up, staring quizzically into red hues. The brunette's face gave away nothing, seemingly amused but at the same time bored. Izaya reckoned it was remorse that his rival felt, because Shizuo was such a good man at heart, wasn't he…

"It broke." The blonde finally spoke.

"Huh…?"

Shizuo ignored him, "A toy truck. It was when I was about five. I got it for my birthday, and I really liked it so that night I even took it to bed. I woke up and it had been pulverized by my horrible sleeping habits."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know why you're telling me this…" Izaya tried to slip his hand away, but the other didn't let him, instead holding on tighter.

"Another year," Izaya sighed as Shizuo continued, he was probably not escaping so he prepared himself to listen to the blonde's rant. "I was playing catch with my dad. I pitched a ball that he couldn't catch and it bore a hole right through the fence. Then…when we went to get it back, the ball was beat up like some busted tomato."

The informer sighed. He could imagine that.

"I was probably violent since birth. By the time I realized it, I was trying to throw a fridge at Kasuka and desks at classmates," The giant groaned. "I broke things that people worked hard on building, and I've hurt people I don't even know. I don't know how to control my anger, and eventually I just stopped thinking about it."

"Yes," the brunette chimed in derisively. "I know."

"Aren't you…" Painfully slow now, the words seemed to be forcing itself out of Shizuo's mouth, his eyes wandered again to the vacant sleeve, where the man's right arm was supposed to be. "Scared of me?"

Freak, beast, monster.

Words that rode on his back for as long as he could remember.

People left him because he was dangerous. He could easily uproot things like vending machines, and poles across the street twisted in his hands as if they were made of rubber. No one really deemed him normal, and soon people who had only been parts of the scenery to the blonde started to avert his path when they saw him. No one wanted to mess with him after they've been beaten up either.

Yet Izaya kept coming back. With the tenacity of a cockroach; no matter how many times Shizuo beat him up, he always managed to slip away and always came back, annoying as ever. But now…

He had managed to break that too.

The anguished cry and the brunette's face twisting in remarkable pain was a first to the blonde. Even being smacked down by vending machines only had the man mildly irritated that he had to quickly get himself back up. This was different. The prospect of his rival being a mortal human just like any of his enemies and feeling real pain after all these years. Whether they liked it or not, they had to acknowledge that things would not be the same with Izaya's dominant arm missing.

Shizuo realized he liked the comfort of having someone to constantly fight with without having to hold back. Now, was Izaya going to leave him too? The blonde gave an unconscious squeeze to the other's hand.

The informer pulled back immediately, finally managing to slip out of the giant's clutch. "What does it look like?" He said irritably, scooting back, red eyes flaring in aggravation as he slipped his hand into his pocket defensively. Shizuo's face fell, giving a half hearted shrug. Izaya snapped, standing up so suddenly that the stool underneath him gave way and toppled over. He flipped his switchblade open, pointed towards the blonde. "…Then I'll ask you the same."

Cinnamon eyes stared at the pointed object glinting in front of his face. Then at the informer's seriously pissed off face. He looked quite vulnerable, but it didn't stop him from always, always, always, trying to get on the blonde's nerves. Shizuo smiled to himself. Guess that meant he didn't have to worry about Izaya hanging around. The knife was brandished threateningly. "What are you laughing at?"

"I guess not," Shizuo chuckled, dodging an angry knife easily. He couldn't bring himself to fight back, not because he was feeling bad about the arm, but because he felt that he was starting to grasp how to control his anger. It was sort of a nostalgic feeling he felt after having a similar talk with his younger brother. Kasuka had treated him like a human, and Izaya was too, albeit in a different manner. Tugging the armless sleeve out of its pocket, the blonde reeled the informer in. He barely noticed the clumsy stabs Izaya was attempting over his stomach, hardly going in a few millimeters at a time. Instead, he grabbed the knife out of the other's hand and tossed it aside. "I'm not scared of you at all."

Izaya glowered, as he was quite stuck. "So? Are you going to finish me off now?"

Shizuo was starting to realize that it was the flea's own way of asking if he was back to his senses. It sort of did make him feel better.

"Dunno. I might have other plans, though." Shizuo answered, still tugging at the sleeve. He can't fix what's lost and gone, but he hoped to be strong enough to save what remained.

* * *

I keep writing things and going, what happened?

Hmmm... hoping to continue it.


	2. Chapter 2

Yes I mean you, Yumi… xD

Thank you everyone for the reviews, faves, and alerts. I really appreciate it, and always look forward to your reactions.

-Note- A bit in a rush so it's crackish, but wanted to get this done…

* * *

Izaya rubbed his eyes with one hand, and opened them again.

Shizuo was still there, sitting pointedly next to his bed. The door to the brunette's room remained unhinged and lopsidedly adjacent to the floor; he feared the same for the front entrance as well, judging from the breeze that made its way over.

The blonde glared, looking unusually tense as he acknowledged the dumbfounded male. "Morning."

Izaya didn't reply. Instead, he just gazed at the spectacle, and decided he was still lost somewhere in his dreams. Digging for the knife he kept under his mattress, he flicked it open and proceeded to stab the giant. Shizuo winced and groaned, slapping the metal aside.

"What?" The blonde growled, irritated.

"That…" Izaya slipped off the side of his bed and carefully tread over broken bits of wood and nails that had once been part of the door. "Is what I want to ask you."

Shizuo raised his brows, obviously not understanding the question. The informer exhaled slowly, reminding himself that what he was facing right now was no ordinary human. Yes, a simple minded organism that lacked a great deal in common sense.

"Why," Izaya tried again, his words painfully slow and dripping in malice. "Are you…here?"

The debt collector's eyes instantly flew towards his rival's right side. The fluttering black sleeve of the brunette's pajama shirt seemed to bother him a great deal. Just as slow, but without any sign of malice, he spoke. "I just thought…you know, it'd be inconvenient since you just left Shinra's place. So I uh…um, it's not like I was worried. I just thought…"

"Get out."

* * *

[So you were worried about Izaya?] Celty spoke through her computer, sitting at the same table they had been yesterday. She flinched when Shizuo pounded into the surface, leaving visible cracks on the metal.

"I thought I said I wasn't," he denied.

Just then, Shinra burst through the door and wobbled towards them, his lab coat swishing violently by his knees. It didn't seem like he realized his childhood friend's presence, as shining eyes locked onto his girlfriend. Flinging his arms open wide and latching himself on, he spoke with delight. "Cellllltttyyyy! I'm home~ I missed you, my sweet honey!"

The embarrassed dullahan patted the underground doctor gently, before shoving him into a seat. Shizuo pursed his lips into one white line, drilling the table unconsciously with his nails. Shinra finally seemed to notice him and smiled awkwardly, watching his furniture being carved by bare hands.

"Hey Shizuo-kun," he spoke cautiously, watching the light reflect off his own glasses to the wall.

Celty replaced her fingers onto the keyboard in attempts to break the tension. [You just came here after that?]

"No…"

* * *

"I don't want this," Izaya pushed a plate of what looked like burnt quiche back towards the cook. The informer swore he never told the blonde that he could use the kitchen, let alone make him breakfast, if they could call it that.

Shizuo glared angrily at the uneaten food, and the brunette could sense the disappointment radiating from him. Izaya momentarily wondered if the other came here to poison him, but he didn't think that this protozoan was capable of thinking that up by himself. Besides, if Shizuo wanted to kill him, there were much easier ways now that they both realized how simple it was to just break through the door and assault him in his sleep. The informer was stumped as to why he was still alive and was being offered food. Also, why would anyone eat something as heavy as quiche for breakfast. Where did he even learn how to make that?

"What, you saying you can't eat what I cooked?" The blonde picked up the plate ready to force it down someone's throat.

"Obviously…" Izaya shrugged sarcastically. "If you want to poison me, you need to find something more appetizing."

Shizuo seemed surprised at the statement, as he lowered the food. "Oh. So that's what you think this is?"

The debt collector picked up an utensil and scooped up a corner of the dish. He put the piece of food into his own mouth and shoved the rest back into the brunette's face.

Sighing in defeat, Izaya cried out, "That's not the point!"

Getting up from his seat, the informer strode up to the other male and clutched the ribbon around his neck. Shaking him with all the strength he could muster, he asked. "Don't you hate me? Don't you want to kill me? Come on, I'm right in front of you. I'm supposed to be annoying. I stabbed you this morning. Doesn't it make you angry?"

"No..not…really…" Shizuo found himself replying, confused at his own realization.

"Why?!" Crimson eyes were only inches away from his own brown ones now, and he was startled at how clearly he was reflected.

"Dunno……"

Slowly, the hold on his clothing seemed to loosen, and Izaya turned his back, walking away. "Screw this, I'm going to work."

Glancing at the hurt expression on the informer's face, Shizuo started to understand. The brunette thought this act was sympathy. He tossed his signature black coat over himself, clutching over his empty sleeve to still the flapping movements before heading out the broken door. The blonde himself didn't know what it was that made him act the way he did, but he knew one thing. It wasn't anything like sympathy, or at least he didn't intend for it to be. He wanted to because…

_Why?_

* * *

[So, um, you were worried about him.] Celty pressed.

"No dammit, I'm not, I've told you already…" A great chunk of the table was now scattered over the tiled floor.

The doctor laughed fretfully, as he leaned backwards into his chair. It looked like over the metal was not a very good place to support himself at the moment. A spark crossed the eyes behind his spectacles, as he tipped the blonde off in a generous tone. "Now that you mention it, I think I've seen Izaya eat French toast in the mornings…"

Shizuo seemed to bite onto that info like a lured fish. "Really?"

"Really." Shinra grinned. "Not that it matters, right?"

"Yeah…it doesn't…" The blonde immediately got up from his seat. "Sorry, I better get going. See you."

As soon as the giant was out the door, Shinra's arm rounded over to Celty's shoulder. She leaned into him, but at the same time, her hands still rested over the computer.

[Why did you do that?]

The doctor smirked, "Because I was tired from work and I wanted to be alone with you."

[Seriously.]

"Haha," He hugged her dearly, knowing that he would never be able to fool her. Just as much as he was able to read into her nonexistent expressions, she too was able to comprehend his mischievous nature. "I'm a bit curious, that's all."

The dullahan's arms left the counter and they fell around her boyfriend's neck. Being able to feel each other's warmth and entangling limbs locked awkwardly in place was something they were both thankful about. How many people in the world realized their one true love and have that love returned?

* * *

Of all the days he wished to be a shut in at the office, today had to be one where the client set up the meeting in Ikebukuro. Izaya muttered curses to himself, trudging alongside the street in a horrible mood. He didn't want to see the blonde, who the informer speculated should be back in this city by now. Picking all the shady roads one after another, he avoided any hotspots of human traffic. He had to be extra careful anyways, because this city was full of enemies that he had messed with in the past. Frankly, he was in no condition to pick a fight either.

Though as he passed by a worn down bookstore, Izaya couldn't help but notice the exact blonde behind the glass window. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, the speedy man fled into an alleyway, away from sight. He was going to have to repair his door, so he wanted to go home as soon as he could. Inside the subway, he thought to himself. Why was it that they always seemed to meet, wherever they were?

Back in his apartment, Shizuo looked over the cookbook in contempt. Easy French toast in 15 minutes was a lie.

* * *

Thanks for reading...  
I'm pretty sure this story was _supposed_ to be something more violent when I started writing.

It's a filler. xD;


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